The Power of Action Civics and Authentic Experiences
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Flipgrid (info.flipgrid.com): A rising star in the education technology world, Flipgrid is used by educators and students worldwide to engage in asynchronous video discussions. Teachers can leverage this tool for class discussions, particularly in the early phases of action research, which include a substantial amount of deliberations. Students also can use it as a tool to reach out to community members and elected officials to solicit information and feedback on action civics projects. Google Meet (https://meet.google.com): Meet is Google’s live video conferencing tool that is free for all Google for Education school districts. This tool enables students to engage in live meetings with multiple students or community stakeholders virtually.
Communication Tools for Advocacy A key component of action civics is advocating for proposed change. Many technologies are designed specifically to help spread messages throughout a wider community. Following are several student-friendly options organized by types of media. Images: Canva (www.canva.com), Adobe Spark (www.adobe.com /express), Google Drawings (docs.google.com/drawings), Unsplash (https://unsplash.com), Pixabay (https://pixabay.com) Videos: iMovie (www.apple.com/imovie), Adobe Spark (adobe.com /express), WeVideo (www.wevideo.com) Podcasts: Anchor (https://anchor.fm), Synth (https://gosynth.com), Audacity (www.audacityteam.org), GarageBand (www.apple.com/mac /garageband) Websites: Google Sites (sites.google.com), Adobe Spark (www.adobe.com/express) Social media campaigns: Facebook (www.facebook.com), Instagram (instagram.com), Twitter (https://twitter.com), TikTok (www.tiktok.com)
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Zoom (https://zoom.us): Like Google Meet, Zoom is a live videoconferencing tool with many advanced features for breakout rooms and other ways to manage the virtual experiences. Advanced features in Zoom, such as breakout rooms and live polling, can help make live meeting scenarios more engaging and effective to gauge audience thoughts and feedback.
